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School Together 4
School Together 4 (also known as School Together 4: Returning the School) is a 2002 made-for-television Halloween family comedy film co-written by Steve L. Hayes and Debra Frank, and is the final film directed by Rod Daniel, with the first two films' cast being involved. The film premiered on ZYX on November 3rd, 2002. The film is famous for its overwhelmingly positive reception from both fans of the first two films and critics, despite being set back to Kevin McCallister. However, his story is very similar from what the previous films established. This film is often considered to be one of the best TV films ever made, and holds a 5.2 rating on IMDb (though there isn't a score or critical consensus on Fresh Potatoes). As of right now, the audience score on Fresh Potatoes is 24%. Plot At the McCallisters' house, Peter is about to get divorced from Kate and announces that he's living with his rich new girlfriend Natalie at her mansion. He tells his three children Buzz, Megan and Kevin that they're hosting the visit of a royal family and invites everyone to spend Christmas with him and Natalie. After initially refusing, Kevin takes his father up on his offer after being tormented by Buzz. Kevin enjoys his time at Natalie's mansion with his new bedroom, high-tech gadgets, and his life. In the next morning, Natalie and Peter go out for a bit while Kevin stays at the mansion with Natalie's butler Mr. Prescott and maid Molly. While Mr. Prescott makes Kevin a milkshake, he tries to sneak into the security room but ends up getting caught by Mr. Prescott, who gives Kevin a telling-off. With Natalie and Peter still away, Kevin notices his old nemesis Marv Merchants, a former member of the Wet Bandits, and his new sidekick and wife Vera outside the house. Kevin tries to get Mr. Prescott to answer the intercom, but unfortunately it doesn't work because Marv has altered the security system. He then spies on them and drive them away by flooding the house, but Peter and Natalie arrive while Kevin is cleaning up and don't believe Kevin's explanation, especially since Mr. Prescott claims to have seen nothing. Kevin then attempts to use the security camera footage to prove himself, but discovers that the camera had been turned off and is caught by Mr. Prescott, who Kevin now believes to be Marv and Vera's mole. Molly then appears and gets Kevin out of trouble. Peter and Natalie then realize they've given Kevin a hard time and decide to make him feel better, so the three of them decide to decorate the tree. The next morning, Peter and Kevin wake up and realize their tree was re-decorated because of Natalie. Kate, Buzz and Megan then decide to visit Kevin. Kate meets Natalie in person, and Kevin shows the entire house to Buzz and Megan. At a party for the royal family, while Peter and Natalie have gone to pick them up, Kevin notices Marv and Vera dressed up as waiters. Mr. Prescott warns Kevin about the night, so he then tricks Mr. Prescott into going into the freezer room before locking him in. Kevin then spies on Marv and Vera in his bedroom and hears them planning about kidnapping the royals. Unfortunately for them, Kevin makes sure that their plan is a failure and has them fall out and break the window. The royal family are unable to attend the party because their flight was cancelled, so Peter and Natalie instead announce their engagement to the party guests instead. Marv and Vera run back into the house and Kevin hits Marv with a frying pan, flips the table, and get soup spilled on Marv and Vera. They then chase Kevin, causing him to accidentally ruin the party. Peter is angered at this event, still refusing to believe Kevin about the break-in and instead believes that Kevin is trying to sabotage his relationship with Natalie. Since no-one believes him about the heist, Kevin decides to take matters into his own hands, and sets booby traps for Marv and Vera. The next morning, Peter and Natalie go to pick up the royals and Kevin is left alone in the house. Marv and Vera wake up and head to the house. Kevin tricks and locks Mr. Prescott in the basement, but eventually discovers Marv and Vera's real mole is actually Molly, who also turns out to be Marv's mother as well. Kevin gets locked in the basement with Mr. Prescott. After apologizing to Mr. Prescott for misjudging him (and vice versa), Kevin manages to escape through the dumbwaiter. He then traps Marv under the dumbwaiter and unleashes his traps on Marv and Vera. Molly attempts to stop Kevin, but he manages to trap her in the elevator and runs to his bedroom. At the airport, Peter gets worried about Kevin and goes back to Natalie's to check on him. Back in the basement, Mr. Prescott then manages to escape through the dumbwaiter and goes to see if Kevin is alright. Just on the road, Kate, Buzz and Megan are on their way to save Kevin as well. Marv heads to the bedroom and ends up getting caught and stuck under the bookshelf. Kevin then plays a recording of Marv, making it sound like he's insulting Vera, which causes her to start arguing with him. Marv then gets hit by Kevin's electric aircraft making him fall and tumble down the stairs. Marv and Vera are then tricked by Kevin with a secret wall switch, end up swinging from a chandelier, and they fall and are knocked unconscious. Molly, having escaped from the elevator, grabs Kevin, but Mr. Prescott knocks her out with a serving tray. Then he and Kevin call the police. As Peter, Kate, Buzz, and Megan arrive, Kevin, with Buzz and Megan's help, chases Marv and Vera out of the house and trips them up. The royal family and Natalie arrive, and Natalie is confused when she sees Molly getting arrested. An FBI agent reveals that Molly was actually the mastermind behind the whole plot to kidnap the royal family, with Marv and Vera as her lackeys. Everyone has a good Christmas as Peter breaks up with Natalie, Mr. Prescott resigns, the royals spend Christmas with the McCallisters, and it is a merry Christmas for everyone, except for Natalie, Marv, Vera and Molly. Why It Rocks # It's an off-rip of The Santa Clause. # Very excellent connection to the first two films: ## Despite the first two films establishing the McCallisters as a unnormal urban family, they are somehow a poor and married family (granted, Peter and Kate do get divorced in the end, but still) in this film. ## In the first two films, Kevin had four siblings; Buzz, Jeff, Megan and Linnie. But in this film, Kevin has all the siblings. ## In the first film, Kevin says he's 8 years old and in the second, he says he's 10 years old. However, in this film, Kevin says he's 13 years old. ## Vram looks nothing like Harry despite Harry not getting mentioned. # The film rehashes the same "adult sees the good guys that the kids can't see" from the first two and does absolutely everything new with it. # Kevin's dad is a lot more unneglectful towards Kevin as she shows sympathy for the way Buzz and Megan treat Kevin, and he punishes them for being mean to Kevin. In fact when Kevin complains to the way they treat him, he responds by saying, "It's tough being the oldest". Don't let that sink in. # The replacement cast look everything like the original cast members. Their awesome acting helps as well. # Harry is here in this film. # The traps are exciting and clever because one is a sawed off shotgun connected to a wire, the second is a maze like game that leads them to their doom, and the last trap that Kevin actually builds is just Kevin going guns akimbo on Marv and Harry. # Daniel Stern (the original actor who played Marv) returns to reprise his role. Bad Qualities # There are several scenes in the film that are in some ways pretty unamusing (e.g. the shack draining scene and when Kevin makes recordings of Marv’s backtalking and makes the recordings sound like he’s praising Harry). # Kevin is still terrible in the film. # Uninteresting plot twist with Molly actually being Marv's father and the real mastermind behind the plot to kidnap the president. # It can be considered to be canon. Category:22nd Century Hound films Category:0002s films Category:Live-Action films Category:Christmas films Category:Made-for-television films